Dale E. Jones and his twin brother Dr. Dan Jones faced significant financial hardship as first-generation college students 42 years ago. Although they still managed to graduate in 1982 from their alma mater, Morehouse College, the challenges deeply imprinted them and decades later they don’t want the current generation to experience the same.
Dale and his wife Yolanda launched a scholarship fund to “provide a safety net of financial support to help juniors and seniors reach graduation.” The “Finishing Well” Scholarship will be available in the Fall 2024 for incoming and ongoing students. Dale, who is the Chief Executive Officer of Magna Vista Partners, is on a mission to help juniors and seniors who are struggling to pay for college in their final years and achieve career success.
“My brother, Dr. Dan Jones, and I came to Morehouse under difficult circumstances,” Dale said in a news release. “Our mother had passed away several years earlier. My dad, a shoe repairman by day and a janitor by night, struggled to keep us in college for four years. He also became permanently disabled while we were in school. The adversity of trying to stay encouraged, but also be financially capable to remain at Morehouse, was hard on all of us.”
In a May report from Trellis Research, approximately 48 percent of students who had experienced financial challenges while enrolled said they couldn’t concentrate on academics because of their finances. What’s more first-generation students and students with jobs were more likely to have difficulty focusing on academics due to financial concerns, compared to their peers, Inside Higher Ed reports.
“We are pleased to establish the Yolanda and Dale Jones Family Endowed Scholarship Fund of $2.5 million to help students finish well,” Jones said. “Too often, juniors and seniors get to Morehouse and can’t compete their education because they are out of resources. We are hoping to build financial capacity for students to complete the last mile of their education.”